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Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

Note that this is from the Chicago Bulls section of the site.

Paul George Is Top Star in Central Division Until Derrick Rose Proves Otherwise

Last season, the title of "Best Player in the Central Division" changed hands in a very unnatural, frustrating manner. The reigning Central kingpin, Derrick Rose, missed the entire 2012-13 campaign coming off offseason knee surgery. In the meantime, a relatively unknown Indiana forward named Paul George rose to take the crown in Rose's absence.

Now that Rose has returned, many would like to assume that he has already reassumed the mantle from George. But Rose has struggled, George has excelled and the question doesn't seem resolved. Why should the basketball world simply assume that Derrick Rose will be the best player in the division this season?

You Can Lose Your Title to Injury

There's an old saying in team sports: A player can't lose his job due to injury. It's a quaint, old-fashioned notion, one that doesn't really jibe with modern sports culture. In today's game, sentimentality equals weakness, and results are all that matter.

And the results simply haven't been there for Rose so far this season. Many in the basketball world were ready to proclaim "Rose is back" after his last-second circus shot to beat the New York Knicks. But "back" is a fairly nebulous term. Is a superstar point guard "back" if he shoots 7-of-24 with more turnovers than assists?

He followed up that "Rose is back" game with a horrid performance Saturday night against the Philadelphia 76ers: 4-of-14 shooting, six assists, eight turnovers. On the season he is shooting 28.8 percent from the field with 13 assists, 17 turnovers and zero steals.

Of course, the odds are that Rose will dramatically pick up his game this season. But until he does, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to claim that he's automatically better than this next guy.

Meanwhile, in Indiana...

Indiana Pacers forward Paul George is having himself an opening week for the ages. The Pacers are 3-0 on the season, and George is sporting the following per-game line:
PPG FG% 3P% RB AST
25.7 .481 .435 8.3 4.3

Crucially, George raised his profile in the basketball world in last year's playoffs, excelling in a tough seven-game series against LeBron James and the eventual-champion Miami Heat. Though he couldn't quite match LeBron (who can?), he played the Heat tougher than Rose did in the Chicago Bulls' 2011 playoff loss to the Heat in Rose's MVP season.

Let This Season Speak for Itself

In a vacuum, Derrick Rose has had a much better career than Paul George. But Rose's knee injury clouds the entire issue. The NBA is a tough place. Nobody cares what you used to do. Rose will continue to struggle for the next few weeks to assimilate himself back into the Chicago lineups and get himself back up to speed.

Rose clearly still has the athleticism and tenacity to regain that elite level, but he's not there yet. Paul George is already at that level. The Bulls and Pacers will face each other four times this year and will battle all season for the division crown. When all is said and done, the world will clearly see who is best.

Larry is not coming back, he didn't have a meeting with Orlando for not reason, yeah he is coming back to the NBA but not to the Pacers, the notion that he is a taking a year off and then come back is absurd.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose will never forget this slight.

"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "
Want your own "Just Say No to Kamen" from @mkroeger pic? http://twitpic.com/a3hmca

Larry is not coming back, he didn't have a meeting with Orlando for not reason, yeah he is coming back to the NBA but not to the Pacers, the notion that he is a taking a year off and then come back is absurd.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

I think we will truly see who is better than Vogel puts PG on Rose in the playoffs like he did 3 years ago.

How awesome is it that we can counter their superstar with a guy that's 7 inches taller than him?

It actually got me thinking....LeBron made the wrong choice. If LeBron had gone to Chicago I think we would be talking about them being favorites for their fourth consecutive championship this year. You're talking about a team with Noah, Deng, Rose, and LeBron. Coached by probably the best defensive coach in the league. Their best lineup would probably have LeBron as the shooting guard. It would be LeBron + Rose + size, rather than LeBron + Wade + old undersized shooters. Wow.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

How awesome is it that we can counter their superstar with a guy that's 7 inches taller than him?

It actually got me thinking....LeBron made the wrong choice. If LeBron had gone to Chicago I think we would be talking about them being favorites for their fourth consecutive championship this year. You're talking about a team with Noah, Deng, Rose, and LeBron. Coached by probably the best defensive coach in the league. Their best lineup would probably have LeBron as the shooting guard. It would be LeBron + Rose + size, rather than LeBron + Wade + old undersized shooters. Wow.

If Lebron went to Chicago they would easily be in contention for the best team ever. The Heat on the other hand may be the best team right now, but I don't think they would really be able to compete against some of the greats. They may be great in the small ball era, but pit them against teams with real big men they wouldn't stand a chance. As good as Roy can be he isn't Jabbar, Wilt, or Russel.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

Chicago Bulls fans are the Cowboys fans of the NBA. Living on 90's glory and obnoxious as ****.

The Cowboys had plenty of success prior to the 90's. Some fans are idiots, and some are not. Just like the fans of any other sports franchise. Anyone who is still a fan of the Cowboys despite the last 20 years of mediocrity is pretty much a true fan. As an Eagles fan I'm sure you know all about supporting mediocrity. Cool story though.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

The Cowboys had plenty of success prior to the 90's. Some fans are idiots, and some are not. Just like the fans of any other sports franchise. Anyone who is still a fan of the Cowboys despite the last 20 years of mediocrity is pretty much a true fan. As an Eagles fan I'm sure you know all about supporting mediocrity. Cool story though.

He wasn't calling them not-true fans, just that they are living in the past and are obnoxious. Being a true fan doesn't prevent you from being obnoxious and annoying.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

I'm mad that we have to play Chicago on the 2nd game of a back to back, and they get 3 days of rest.

Wait until you look further down the road at some of the other times we play them...

"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus

"Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire"Everyone's values are defined by what they will tolerate when it is done to others." - William Greider

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

Do the b2b games mean that much? I know the natural thing to think of is tiredness but many teams don't suffer from that at all. If anything, we seemed a bit rusty a couple of times coming off a 3 day break.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

I honestly would take Paul moving forward over Rose, even assuming health for Rose. I believe Paul will score 22+ ppg, hell spread the floor, rebound, and defend better than rose and his size makes him harder to shut down in the playoffs. Paul doesn't have to improve TOO much to be a comparable scorer to rose, as Rose wasn't that efficient even in his MVP year, and PG's shooting makes him more versatile even offensively.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

The Cowboys had plenty of success prior to the 90's. Some fans are idiots, and some are not. Just like the fans of any other sports franchise. Anyone who is still a fan of the Cowboys despite the last 20 years of mediocrity is pretty much a true fan. As an Eagles fan I'm sure you know all about supporting mediocrity. Cool story though.

Where did I say they weren't true fans? What I said doesn't go for all Cowboys or Bulls fans, but it does go for a lot. Reading those comments on the article was just like reading comments about the Cowboys, praising Romo (like Bulls fans do Rose, though a healthy Rose is better) and bringing up championships won 20 years ago like they have anything to do with the team today. Its extremely annoying to be talking about a team today and because things aren't going away for said team one of their fans goes and says "YEAH WELL WE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN 94!!!!" Cool story bro!

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

Any conversation about the best player in the Central should probably include Kyrie Irving as well.

I'm a big Kyrie fan but he's been playing terrible so far this season. He's only shooting 37% from the field (18% from 3!)through the first 4 games and had 9 turnovers last night against the T-Wolves. I'm wondering if he's hurt right now.

Larry is not coming back, he didn't have a meeting with Orlando for not reason, yeah he is coming back to the NBA but not to the Pacers, the notion that he is a taking a year off and then come back is absurd.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

How awesome is it that we can counter their superstar with a guy that's 7 inches taller than him?

It actually got me thinking....LeBron made the wrong choice. If LeBron had gone to Chicago I think we would be talking about them being favorites for their fourth consecutive championship this year. You're talking about a team with Noah, Deng, Rose, and LeBron. Coached by probably the best defensive coach in the league. Their best lineup would probably have LeBron as the shooting guard. It would be LeBron + Rose + size, rather than LeBron + Wade + old undersized shooters. Wow.

On the other hand...South Beach.

I think the decision might have been les than raw analysis by Lebron of the best team he could go to and more him Wade and Bosh becoming buds on Team Usa.

Re: Article: Paul George is Top Star in Central Division not Derrick Rose

"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "
Want your own "Just Say No to Kamen" from @mkroeger pic? http://twitpic.com/a3hmca